Why it’s so easy for police to bust dial-a-dope operations

The law takes dial-a-dope drug offences seriously. It’s considered a category separate from what’s generally referred to as “street level” dealing, where a dealer hangs out on a corner and is approached by prospective customers looking to buy. Dial-a-dope operations are different. The courts consider these drug lines as commercial operations that exist to bring drugs to all corners of the market, even to areas not traditionally known for drug consumption.

Dial-a-dope operations are kind of like food-delivery for drugs. A customer places a call to their local dial-a-dope operator, who drives out to an arranged meeting location for the exchange. This is something that particularly raises the ire of the courts, as it allows customers who would otherwise be unwilling to seek out drugs to have the substances delivered. All that’s needed is a phone number and a willing seller.

Due to the increased focus by law enforcement on dial-a-dope operations, there have been hundreds of dial-a-dope cases in BC alone that have prosecuted in court. And from these cases, you can get a really good idea of just how police are busting dial-a-dope operations. It’s really quite a simple process.

Often, a police officer will dial a number and simply say “are you working,” “can you hook me up,” “can you meet me,” or something equally vague to test the waters.

How do police bust dial-a-dope operations?

Many police officers, even those who don’t actively investigate drug crimes, come across tips. They may have received a complaint and some information, perhaps a phone number and a description of a vehicle, as belonging to a drug dealer running a dial-a-dope operation. These tips may come from CrimeStoppers, where people can anonymously offer information to law enforcement. Police also work informants, some of whom have enabled police to bust multiple dial-a-dope lines due to the reliability of the information they provide.

The Vancouver Police, in particular, receive so many of these tips that they conduct four major dial-a-dope crackdowns per year. As one investigator testified in court, as many as 250 tips would be pursued during just one of these crackdowns, with officers assigned to “cold call” suspected dial-a-dope lines to arrange meetings. Often, that’s all it takes. An officer successfully arranges a transaction, buys the drugs, and a team of officers subsequently arrests the dealer.

It’s sort of like fishing. Often, a police officer will dial a number and simply say “are you working,” “can you hook me up,” “can you meet me,” or something equally vague to test the waters. However, the courts have also determined that police must at least have a reasonable suspicion that someone is operating a dial-a-dope line to conduct these cold calls. There is at least one case where the courts overturned two dial-a-dope drug charges, on the grounds of entrapment, since the officers couldn’t prove they reasonably suspected the accused of being a drug trafficker prior to calling his phone line. The lesson there is that police can’t just call every cell phone in a city in a fishing expedition for drug dealers.

Sometimes dial-a-dope dealers operate plainly in public, for all to see

Calling a huge list of phone numbers in attempts that some of them will be dial-a-dope drug dealers is time-consuming work. Sometimes dial-a-dope operators make things extremely easy for police by choosing highly public locations to do business. One alleged dealer was arrested after police discovered “numerous property crime criminals” were gathering at the Nanaimo SkyTrain Station. So they set up surveillance, suspecting the crowd was there to buy drugs, and observed buyers getting in and out of a sedan that showed up.

Another decided to do a hand-to-hand transaction in a mall parking lot, just pulling up to each others’ vehicles for a few seconds before driving off. The alleged trafficker’s vehicle was pulled over by Mission RCMP and its occupants were arrested.

Dial-a-dope dealers think they have systems to evade police

Dial-a-dope dealers often think they’re clever. They will often ask prospective customers for references, perhaps drive by the meeting location in advance to make sure there are no police cars nearby, or even do the thing where they just ask, “are you a cop?”

One such genius did ask an undercover officer that question – to which the officer simply said “no” – and the dealer was promptly arrested after the exchange. This guy tried to allege the police had entrapped him, but that didn’t work out for him.

And particularly in large cities, the whole reference system doesn’t seem to work all that well. After all, everyone knows someone named Mike, and dial-a-dope dealers know they are competing with other dealers for business. Many are anxious for new customers and are less scrupulous about selling to those they just met.

The only place where police appear to struggle to bust dial-a-dope operations appears to be in small towns, where police have a limited number of unmarked vehicles they can conduct surveillance with, and references are harder to make up, since everyone knows each other in small towns.

Who are dial-a-dope dealers?

Those charged with dial-a-dope drug trafficking offences are generally young people. For many of them, it’s their first time charged with an offence. Many dial-a-dope dealers do not even use drugs, but are instead in it for the perception of easy money.

Dial-a-dope operations also typically deal in “hard” drugs such as crack, cocaine and heroin, though there are cases of dealers who were arrested for marijuana trafficking alone. Due to how these operations spread so-called hard drugs to all corners and nooks, the courts treat dial-a-dope trafficking offences seriously. The Court of Appeal has determined that the starting point in sentencing for dial-a-dope offences is jail. Serious jail time.

If you or someone you know is being investigated by police for the allegation of operating a dial-a-dope line, consider giving us a call or sending us a message. It is important to act quickly to ensure your rights are protected. Our goal is to ensure you do not receive a criminal record. Call us now at 604-685-8889.